Residential Sector Leads Building Permit Decline

The total value of building permits in Canada declined 6.6 per cent in July to $11.2 billion, mainly due to the residential sector, which fell 8.6 per cent to $7.6 billion, says Statistics Canada. The non-residential sector also dropped slightly by 2.1 per cent. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), the total value of building permits decreased 4.8 per cent to $6.9 billion. In July, strong residential permit gains in British Columbia and Quebec were more than offset by weak construction intentions in six other provinces. Construction intentions in the single-family homes component declined 5.7 per cent, as decreases in Ontario (-13.9 per cent) more than offset the gains in six provinces. Despite the decline, this component remained 14.8 per cent higher than the same month of 2021. In July, gains in the total permit value of the commercial and institutional components were more than offset by losses in the industrial component. Commercial permit values edged up 0.1 per cent. Alberta (+72.8 per cent) had the highest increase, stemming from various permits issued in Calgary and Edmonton.